Forests: Should you really keep them?

[Artuero]

I had heard that you a city had to be working the mine (i.e., in the radius and being worked) in order for a resource to appear. If true there would be no point to mining ordinary hills outside city radii.

Edited to say working the mine rather than working the mind which is an interesting concept itself.

[Fried-Psitalon]

Tile must be worked for possible mining discovery bonus.

[inca911]

Well, that saves me from doing that anymore. I've only had resources appear twice from mines so far. Both times they were extras of copper, which I already had nearby. I'll stick to chopping forests that are low culture and way far out in my empire.

Edit: So is it cooincidental that I got extra copper with copper nearby? Or am I equally likely to reveal iron as copper regardless of existing resources?

[Shaka II]

Originally posted by Artuero
I had heard that you a city had to be working the mind (i.e., in the radius and being worked) in order for a resource to appear. If true there would be no point to mining ordinary hills outside city radii.

Thanks, you just saved some extra micromanagement.

[ghen]

Originally posted by Fried-Psitalon
Tile must be worked for possible mining discovery bonus.

Ooops


Vel, you continue to suprise me.. maybe its my bedtime, but talk of resonating hammers just mezmerizes me.

As for deforestation.. I've been one to keep forests around just because I like forests. I try to keep my chopping to strategic locations (less defense for attackers) and outside cultural borders. The game looks better with forests darnit, and I won't play any other way

[Drachasor]

Originally posted by inca911
Well, that saves me from doing that anymore. I've only had resources appear twice from mines so far. Both times they were extras of copper, which I already had nearby. I'll stick to chopping forests that are low culture and way far out in my empire.

Edit: So is it cooincidental that I got extra copper with copper nearby? Or am I equally likely to reveal iron as copper regardless of existing resources?

AFAIK it was coincidental. Even if it is something you already have there are still several nice things about finding new resources:

1. The tile becomes much more productive. This is a boon no matter what. This can be a nice boost to the local city.

2. You have something you can trade to the AI. It might be a little cheap, but the AI will take copper in trade at any point in the game, even if there is never going to be another use for it (or if the only use is many, many turns away). As a strategic resource, it is worth more than the average commodity.

3. Multiple supplies of a given resource help ensure that the enemy can't sneak one or two guys into your territory, pillage, and reduce you to simple units.

[Blake]

A bunch of times I've had resources pop that I otherwise don't have access to, including Copper.
It almost seems that most games I'll get alteast one of gems, gold or silver from a mine, and often it'll be my first source of the resource. Getting an unexpected +2 happy over the entire empire is a very nice boon.

[Aginor]

Even in a standard length game, if you have a sizable empire you're going to discover significant resources. An extra 4 hammers before running through Forge/Factory/Power bonuses is significant...same for commerce bonuses. Also, Gold, Gems and Silver are generally fairly scarce, and it's indeed common to pick one of the three up this way since the AI usually doesn't have stacks of them laying around either.

[Aginor]

Originally posted by Velociryx
Same here. Every hammer generated in-game (regardless of when it was generated) resonates through the entire rest of the game. The older the hammer, the more it resonates, so the more hammers you can generate sooner (in the ancient age), the better your late-game position.

Assuming efficient early game play, early hammers are an investment in late game production (land grab successes/conquered cities). Accordingly, it resonates downwards IF you convert it to something that gives you an advantage. Which means:

a) you should chop what you need to get the units to carve out your empire/build the critical wonders/get your Workers and Settlers out there/get the necessary city improvements, and no more (in particular, extra units have maintenance costs attached to them, which can be *very* bad in sufficient quantities combined with the drain of early empire).

b) you should not scorch the earth without purpose. Early hammers invested in the right improvements resonate (Granary/Library, Harbor/Lighthouse in some cases, Temples if you must for happiness/culture)...otherwise that Forest is still better used throwing up a later key Wonder or getting the Market/Bank/University up faster.

With all of that said - let's face it, at the top difficulty levels, unit production for the purpose of carving out your niche will obliterate your early Forests despite the health hazards (as it's hard to care anyway given the happiness problems). However, at Monarch and below there are times when pop rushing with more limited chopping can get the job done.

[Velociryx]

Thanks ghen! That was a good phrase, no?


And I think Ag summed up the gist of it quite nicely....that there are some types of investments that resonate more loudly than others (specifically infrastructure), and that it's best, if at all possible, to save what forests you have for those builds.

-=Vel=-

[Cort Haus]

Has anyone tried the ice-age maps for a choptastic game? There are forests everywhere and it combines nicely with a culture-win. The more you chop culture improvements, the more your borders grow into your neigbours forests - it's a feast.

[dlgsharp]

I don't know if it's already been mentioned, but I always chop a forest if it lies on the site of a future city.

[Shr3dZ]

Originally posted by Fried-Psitalon
Tile must be worked for possible mining discovery bonus.

So how does this work, lets say you finish mining a hill, and 3 rounds later you actually work it, THATS when the resource can pop up? Or does it just have to be in the city radii?

Ive been playing this game since 2 days after it was released and Ive still yet to see any resources pop up after mining!

[snafuc4]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
The more you chop culture improvements, the more your borders grow into your neigbours forests - it's a feast.

Have you seen http://www.apolyton.net/forums/showt...hreadid=145736

Culture doesn't affect chopping borders, apparently..

[Cort Haus]

Yeah, but you can't chop your neighbours trees within their borders. I presume.